Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1887-06-02
SET IN DIAMONDS
by Charlotte NJ. Braeme.
CHAPTER XIX.
hESTuIIAM TIrNNEJ ~

was blowing as the train sped on TO It's
destination. There were few frst-class
passengers. No one travels who can
avoid 1t on "a December night.
The third-class carriages were we'll
filled. Halfway between Cliffe and
London lies the great tunnel of Esthan,
supposed 10 be one of the largest and
darkest in England; supposed too, to
be hau. ted. The guards and the
engine drivers, the strokers and men on
the line, plate layers, and workmen of
all kinds tell the same story. The
tunnel is haunted. A horrible accident
happened there once; and again dread
full murder was committed in it's dark
depths. 1t may have been all fancy,
but guards and engine drivers told
strange stories of what they saw and
heard as they flew through Estham
Tunnel. They spoke Of white winged
yet grotesque shapes that passed
through the air, of wild wailing cries
that were like the means Of lost souls.
Guards and engine drivers would
come out of Estham Tunnel with white
faces and pallid lips. They did not
object to glass OF brandy at the next
station, and they never said much of
what they seen or heard. One man
crossing the line at night when he had
no business near It., declared that at
the mouth Of the tunnel he had seen
great terrible skeleton, and that he had
been terrified out of his life ever since I;
but then people laughed at him. Some
said he had stayed too long at the
BARLEY Mow;" Others that he was SUI
perstitious. One or two, more thought
full than the rest, did look puzzled wher,
few days afterward, the second terri
BILE catastrophe happened in Estham
Tunnel. ...--.
the most terrible; those who have never
witnessed one can form no idea of the
horrors of IL.
Those who read in the papers that
railway accident occurred at such a
place, with loss of life, and many
wounded, do not in the least degree
realize what has happened; a ship on
fire at sea Is terrible thing but not
worse than q collision In dark tunnel
between two heavy freight trains-the
monstrous size and strength of the
engines, the unearthly noise of the
steam, the cries of the people. the con-
fusion, the darkness, make the scene
far worse than anything Dante has
described in his "Inferno, make
railway accident the most awful
catastrophe on earth.
So the train sped on, and the living
freight were all unconscious OF their
doom.
Lady Stair was thinking deeply; she
sat with her head resting against the
cushioned seat, the beautiful face look
ing white and gastly in the pale light.
Now that she was at distance from
Oakcliffe, she was even more frightened;
nothing could have scared or frightened
her more than that one word, divorce, )"
and the more she thought of it, the
more terrible it seemed TO her.
She was uncertain, too, as to what
power her husband had over her; 1t
was possible be might send to install
and force her to appear. She woulc
not 60 home; better starvation In the
streets, better death In the hospitals or
workhouse, than to go home and be
dragged from there back t. Oakcliffe,
than to face the horrors Of that horrible
court. No, never; she had not thought
of this when she left Oakclit c; she had
thought of her fathers house as q sure
refuge-of her fathers love as sure
protection-and now 1t suddenly oc-
curerd to her that no one could keep
her husband from her, no one could
prevent his anger from falling upon her,
ifhe knew where she was. No; she
would not go home, at least not yet,
not until months and years had passed,
not until Lord Stair had forgotten her,
not until all fears Of "Divorce" were
ended. She would go to London, she
had purseful of gold, aud she could
work; she would work, starve or die:
she would do anything rather than re-
turn to Oakclffs.
The train sped on. Once she looked
out into the thick blackness of the night;
she could see nothing but the occasional
glare Of the red lights.
"What time Is it, Phebe?" she asked.
and the maid drew out the beautiful
jeweled watch.
s'It is just six O'Clock, my lady," she
said. "Shall give you this now?"
mo, never mind" replied Lady
Stair, II do not want it."
Six o'clock. Then they were half
way to London, and another hour would
pass before Lord Stair reached home
and heard the shameful story in which
there was 80 little truth, yet which
she could not altogether deny; thi:
story which no one understood and nc
one could give the key of-but herself
Her heart grew quiet with the
thought; 1t had been beating furiously
so loudly, too, that she could hear the
sound. But now she grew calmer
death held no fear for her, life none
greater than this: that she should bs
compelled to return to Lord Stair.
So the train sped. At times the
wind whistled round the carriages with
a loud, mournful wall, at times the
drivers whistle sounded shrill anl
sharp.
"This is Estham Tunnel" said Phoebe
Askeron, as with thud and roar
they entered the black depths. IN,
cousin was killed in this tunnel fiv,
years ago."
On with a terrible roar, through tn,
hick darkness with the occasiona
spectral glare OF red light; q dark,
long tunnel.
Oh. heavens! what Is 1t? A noise 81
horrible that it was deafening "a horrl.
BILE shock; the noise Of two heav,
engines meeting, the burst of flame
the crashing of wood and iron, the mao
escape of steam, the cries of a hundre,
people. What is it?
The moment before mistress ant
maid were seated In frst-class carri
age, the lamp lighted, the maid trylnl
to read by its light, tie mistress try
ing to collect her thoughts; then cam'
sudden, horrible crash-the carriag
stood still, then rolled back, then wa
propelled forwards; a sudden, blindinI
light wrapped round-there was ter
rified cry from the two woman; Pheb
Askeron tried TO take hold of Lady Stai
the next moment the carriage wa
crushed into atoms aud those atom
were all In flames. Phoebe Asker
- - Al